{"id":646070,"date":"2026-05-16T04:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/646070\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:42:09","slug":"northern-maine-hospital-opens-expanded-emergency-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/646070\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Maine hospital opens expanded emergency room"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A newly renovated and modernized emergency department at Millinocket Regional Hospital that expanded by more than 10,000 square feet opened Friday. <\/p>\n

Five treatment rooms, larger rooms and an entrance that can have multiple ambulances at it at once were all included in the expansion. The renovation was funded by local donors, Penobscot County and congressionally directed spending.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, secured nearly $13.4 million in Congressional appropriations since 2022 to fund the expansion.<\/p>\n

Collins, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, said the modern department was \u201ccritical\u201d to the future of the Katahdin region.<\/p>\n

\"\"A newly renovated and modernized emergency department at Millinocket Regional Hospital opened Friday. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik \/ BDN<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that is very personal to me \u2014 to make sure that people have access to healthcare close to where they live is absolutely critical for the vitality and the future of our rural communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Penobscot County Commissioner David Marshall and a representative for King attending the event echoed Collins, saying that the expansion will benefit what they said was a growing region trying to revitalize after multiple mill closures.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ambulances sit in the ambulance bay to the new emergency department at Millinocket Regional Hospital Friday. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik \/ BDN<\/p>\n

Federal funding cuts have thrown medical care in Maine\u2019s aging, rural communities into question. Although some hospitals have closed services, such as maternity units<\/a>, Millinocket\u2019s hospital has been working to expand its medical coverage.<\/p>\n

Specialized rooms that can change the air pressure to protect staff and patients from airborne pathogens, four safe rooms for behavioral health patients, and a decontamination room with two large showerheads were highlighted on a tour of the new Millinocket facility.<\/p>\n

The additions and renovations show the hospital\u2019s commitment to its patients, Millinocket Regional Hospital CEO Robert Peterson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ambulances sit in the ambulance bay to the new emergency department at Millinocket Regional Hospital Friday. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik \/ BDN<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud we\u2019re building, not withering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Technology advances and additional space weren\u2019t the only additions to the building.<\/p>\n

Maine granite stylizes the hospital\u2019s entrance both interior and exterior, an outline of Katahdin on every door plaque represents the region, and a new sign outside the front door were all added during the design process, Peterson said.<\/p>\n

The additions and improvements show that the people in the community, including Marshall who lives in Millinocket, don\u2019t have to worry about receiving care at the facility, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019m particularly interested, because I live here. I\u2019m getting older, and I expect to be using the facilities here when the occasion necessitates, and I want to know that I am in the best of care with the best of equipment. You have provided both,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A newly renovated and modernized emergency department at Millinocket Regional Hospital that expanded by more than 10,000 square…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-646070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}